WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Mustangs’ season ends with loss in NSIC Tournament

February 27, 2014

ABERDEEN, S.D. - No. 21 Northern State held Southwest Minnesota State to 28 percent shooting in its 73-45 win in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference /Sanford Health Tournament. SMSU entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed in the south, while the Wolves were the top seed in the North and held the home-court advantage.

Northern State advances to the NSIC/Sanford Health quarterfinals and will play Augustana on Saturday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Wolves began the game with a 10-2 run and pulled away from that point.

"We didn't shoot a very high percentage and Northern State was able to take advanatge of that," Mustangs' head coach Allison Kruger said.

SMSU's season comes to an end with an overall record of 4-23. The game was the last for five Mustang seniors - Bree Holleman, Jessie Watts, Rebekah Rolling, Hannah Beeler and Alison Nagel.

With the loss, SMSU moves to 8-10 all-time in the NSIC tournament.

Ellen Degler led SMSU with 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting. She finished with six rebounds and five steals. Nagel, SMSU's leading scorer on the season, was held scoreless as she finished the game 0 of 7 from the field.

SMSU shot just 28 percent from the floor as the Mustangs hit on just 14 of 50 field goal attempts.

Alison Kusler led NSU to victory as she netted a game-high 19 points on an efficient 7 of 10 shooting, including 4 of 5 from behind the arc. NSU out-rebounded SMSU 40-26 in the game.

SMSU tied a season-high with 15 steals in the game. SMSU also recorded 15 steals in its win over Crown College to open the season.

With the loss, SMSU will move into the offseason with a lot of room to improve. Kruger said the team has to get better with the players they have and work at becoming a fundamentally-sound unit during summer workouts. She is also hoping some talented recruits can step in and make an impact right away.